CNN commentator calls for the elimination of Israel.

[georgephillip]

Why You Shouldn't Pay Attention to the Claims that Israel Attacked the USS Liberty Deliberately


Tom Segev, an Israeli historian, author and journalist. He is associated with Israel's New Historians, a group challenging many of the country's traditional narratives


Segev said in an equally interesting 2012 article, also came out against the various theories. “None of the four people who could have ordered an attack on an American ship - Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, Mossad chief Meir Amit, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin - was daring and crazy to that extent,”

Your link:

"There is no proof that Israel attacked the ship maliciously. No motive for this has been proven. None of the four people who could have ordered an attack on an American ship - Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, Mossad chief Meir Amit, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin - was daring and crazy to that extent.

"Over the years, various pieces of evidence have emerged that seem to support Israel's claim that the ship was fired on by mistake. However, a number of questions still hover over the affair, and these nourish the conspiracy theories."

No motive for Israel's attack has been proven because no US governmental entity has ever undertaken an investigation into culpability for the assault. A US Navy Court of Inquiry investigated seamanship issues, but no agency has ever conducted a fact finding inquiry into why Israel launched the deadly aggression.

 

[Indeependent]

So what? That's still their opinion, and it is trumped by the facts. Sorry.

Don't be sorry;

produce your "facts"

See if you can find any that contradict the accounts of eyewitnesses like James M. Ennes, Jr.

The Assault on the USS Liberty Still Covered Up After 26 Years – 1993 June - WRMEA

"Twenty-six years have passed since that clear day on June 8, 1967 when Israel attacked the USS Liberty with aircraft and torpedo boats, killing 34 young men and wounding 171.

"The attack in international waters followed over nine hours of close surveillance. Israeli pilots circled the ship at low level 13 times on eight different occasions before attacking.

"Radio operators in Spain, Lebanon, Germany and aboard the ship itself all heard the pilots reporting to their headquarters that this was an American ship.

"They attacked anyway.

"And when the ship failed to sink, the Israeli government concocted an elaborate story to cover the crime...."

"Fifteen years after the attack, an Israeli pilot approached Liberty survivors and then held extensive interviews with former Congressman Paul N. (Pete) McCloskey about his role.

"According to this senior Israeli lead pilot, he recognized the Liberty as American immediately, so informed his headquarters, and was told to ignore the American flag and continue his attack.

"He refused to do so and returned to base, where he was arrested."

Any other eyewitnesses?

Every US survivor aboard Liberty believed the attack was deliberate. Many others believe similarly:

The Assault on the USS Liberty Still Covered Up After 26 Years – 1993 June - WRMEA

"The (IDF) pilot's protests also were heard by radio monitors in the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon.

"Then-U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dwight Porter has confirmed this. Porter told his story to syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak and offered to submit to further questioning by authorities.

"Unfortunately, no one in the U.S. government has any interest in hearing these first-person accounts of Israeli treachery.

"Key members of the Lyndon Johnson administration have long agreed that this attack was no accident.

"Perhaps most outspoken is former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Thomas Moorer. 'I can never accept the claim that this was a mistaken attack,' he insists."

It’s the human condition.
Anyone who is attacked feels it’s malicious.

"ma·li·cious
/məˈliSHəs/
adjective

1. characterized by malice; intending or intended to do harm.
   'malicious destruction of property'
   synonyms: spiteful, malevolent, evil-intentioned, vindictive, vengeful, malign, mean, nasty, hurtful, mischievous, wounding, cruel, unkind; More

Are you aware the captain of the Liberty (who was seriously wounded during the malicious assault and earned a medal of honor for his actions) had to rescind his order to abandon ship because his crew could not stand on deck due to 50 caliber machine gun fire from multiple IDF torpedo boats, and the orange life rafts the crew had tossed overboard were strafed and sunk by the same murderous, unprovoked 90 minute attack?

William McGonagle - Wikipedia

Yes...this is the 47th time you've brought this up in the last few years.

 

[MacTheKnife]

Why You Shouldn't Pay Attention to the Claims that Israel Attacked the USS Liberty Deliberately


Tom Segev, an Israeli historian, author and journalist. He is associated with Israel's New Historians, a group challenging many of the country's traditional narratives


Segev said in an equally interesting 2012 article, also came out against the various theories. “None of the four people who could have ordered an attack on an American ship - Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, Mossad chief Meir Amit, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin - was daring and crazy to that extent,”

Your link:

"There is no proof that Israel attacked the ship maliciously. No motive for this has been proven. None of the four people who could have ordered an attack on an American ship - Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, Mossad chief Meir Amit, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin - was daring and crazy to that extent.

"Over the years, various pieces of evidence have emerged that seem to support Israel's claim that the ship was fired on by mistake. However, a number of questions still hover over the affair, and these nourish the conspiracy theories."

No motive for Israel's attack has been proven because no US governmental entity has ever undertaken an investigation into culpability for the assault. A US Navy Court of Inquiry investigated seamanship issues, but no agency has ever conducted a fact finding inquiry into why Israel launched the deadly aggression.

Here is something you should ask yourself........ if the Israelis intended to sink the Liberty, then why didn't the Israeli Armed Forces, which had destroyed the entire Egyptian Air Force in minutes, had destroyed thousands of Egyptian tanks and artillery in a few days, had captured the Sinai, the Suez Canal, the Old City of Jerusalem, the West Bank and a day later destroyed the Syrian army and its armor and captured the Golan Heights, all in six days, why didn’t they sink the ship, if that is what they intended?

You really should read the link I provided.

 

[georgephillip]

Here is something you should ask yourself........ if the Israelis intended to sink the Liberty, then why didn't the Israeli Armed Forces, which had destroyed the entire Egyptian Air Force in minutes, had destroyed thousands of Egyptian tanks and artillery in a few days, had captured the Sinai, the Suez Canal, the Old City of Jerusalem, the West Bank and a day later destroyed the Syrian army and its armor and captured the Golan Heights, all in six days, why didn’t they sink the ship, if that is what they intended?

Here's a good explanation for why Jews gave up on their deliberate attempt to sink Liberty with no survivors:

USS Liberty Memorial: Summary of Events

"By patching together different systems, the ship's radio operators had ultimately been able to send a brief distress message that was received and acknowledged by United States Sixth Fleet forces present in the Mediterranean.[26]

"Upon receipt of that message the aircraft carriers USS Saratoga and USS America each launched aircraft to come to the aid of USS Liberty.[27]

"The reported attacking aircraft were declared hostile and the rescue aircraft were authorized to destroy them upon arrival.[28]

"The rules of engagement, authorizing destruction of the attackers, were transmitted to the rescue aircraft 'in the clear' (i.e., they were not encrypted).

"Shortly after the Sixth Fleet transmission of the rules of engagement to its dispatched rescue aircraft, the Israeli torpedo boats suddenly broke off their attack and transmitted messages asking if USS Liberty required assistance.[29]

"At the same time, an Israeli naval officer notified the US Naval Attaché at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv that Israeli forces had mistakenly attacked a United States Navy ship and apologized.

"The Naval Attaché notified the United States Sixth Fleet[30] and rescue aircraft were recalled before they arrived at the scene of the attack.[31]"

"At about the same time as the cessation of the torpedo boat attack, Israeli attack helicopters arrived over the ship.[32]

"Survivors report that the helicopters were packed with men in combat battle dress.

"The Captain of USS Liberty gave the order to 'prepare to repel boarders'[33] but the helicopters departed without attempting to land their troops."

 

[MacTheKnife]

"The Liberty Incident Revealed "......is the complete and final story about the Israeli Air Force and Navy attack on the USS Liberty during the Six Day War in June 1967. Cutting through all of the controversy and conspiracy theories about Israel’s deadly attack, Cristol revises his well-regarded book about the event with an expanded and in-depth analysis of all of the sources, including the released tapes of the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepts.

When Cristol’s first book on the subject, The Liberty Incident, was published in 2002, there remained many unanswered questions about Israeli Air Force audio tapes. The NSA intercepts tapes had not yet been released in 2002. Some conspiracy theorists alleged the NSA tapes would prove that the Israeli attack was premeditated. Cristol’s successful Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the NSA, while resulting in the release of those tapes, has been greeted by anti-Israel sources insisting that the NSA tapes are fraudulent and are part of a larger conspiracy to deceive the American public.

After a quarter of a century of intensive research in both Israel and the U.S., researching all relevant archives from NSA, CIA and the State Department, reviewing both formerly classified and open source documents, and interviewing all then-living individuals directly involved in the incident, the factual and documentary record is clear. Cristol maintains that despite the fact that all of the official records and transcripts are now available for review, the truth has proven to be of no interest to those individuals and organizations who are motivated by hidden agendas, wish to keep conspiracy theories alive, or are trying to feed sensational stories to the media. Documenting his findings in six new chapters, Cristol establishes definitively that the Israeli attack was a tragic mistake and presents a convincing argument that will be regarded as the final chapter in the long-simmering debate about this incident.

"The USS Liberty: Case Closed"

The Israelis have always said the attack on the Liberty, which was monitoring communications in the war, was a tragic accident.

But some survivors and senior U.S. officials at the time have said they believe the attack was a deliberate effort to stop American surveillance of Israeli activities during the conflict.

The NSA on Tuesday released audiotapes of Israeli pilots and ground control speaking in Hebrew, along with English transcripts.

The recordings were made by a nearby American surveillance aircraft in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

"For your info, it is apparently an Arab ship," says ground control.

"Roger," says the pilot.

"It is an Egyptian supply ship," says ground control.

"Roger," comes the response.

The NSA released the tapes and transcripts under the Freedom of Information Act in response to a request from Miami Judge Jay Cristol.

An author of a book on the attack, Cristol said the tapes show it was a tragic accident in a time of war -- that the Israelis mistook the ship for an Egyptian one.

"I don't think there's any question that anyone who reads these tapes would be absolutely convinced there was the fog of war out there," Cristol said.

Later on the tape, the Israelis sound confused and concerned. Ground control orders the helicopter pilots to look for survivors and to check their nationality.

"If they speak Arabic -- Egyptians -- you're taking them to Al-Arish. If they speak English -- non-Egyptians -- you're taking them to Lod. Is that clear?" says ground control.

"Roger," says the pilot.

James Bamford, the author of a history of the NSA, believes the tapes suggest the Israelis may have deliberately attacked the U.S. spy ship, perhaps fearing -- for some reason not known -- that it was spying on them.

"Here the transcripts are saying, 'Well, you know, there may be people speaking English on this ship,'" Bamford said. "Why would you say that if it's an Egyptian ship, carrying horses?"

On the tape, after the rescue helicopter pilot tells ground control he sees an American flag on the ship, he receives an order in return.

"They request that you make another pass and check once again whether it is really an American flag," ground control says.

The order suggests the Israelis were surprised at word of a U.S. flag, but it also runs counter to what Israeli fighter pilots and torpedo boat crews have always insisted: That they could not see an American flag.

"Clearly the flag was there," Bamford said, "because the intercepts show that the helicopter pilots saw it immediately, before they ever even got up to the ship."

The ship's flag now hangs in the National Cryptologic Museum in Fort Meade, Maryland, adjacent to NSA headquarters.

"I think this is probably the most important link in the evidence that ought to bring closure to this matter," Cristol said.

Surviving members of the Liberty crew argue that -- far from putting the matter to rest -- the tapes only underline the continuing need for a full, public U.S. investigation.

"A simple investigation -- that's all they have to do," said Joe Meadors, a Liberty survivor. "Find out what happened. If anybody did anything wrong, punish them."

In a letter to Cristol, the NSA said that contrary to rumors there was no U.S. submarine in the area watching, and the Liberty itself made no relevant recordings.

Israeli Embassy spokesman Mark Regev said the tapes are "further evidence that the Liberty incident was a terrible and tragic case of mistaken identity."

CNN.com - USS Liberty attack tapes released - Jul. 10, 2003

Story Tools

 

[georgephillip]

"I think this is probably the most important link in the evidence that ought to bring closure to this matter," Cristol said.

Surviving members of the Liberty crew argue that -- far from putting the matter to rest -- the tapes only underline the continuing need for a full, public U.S. investigation.

"A simple investigation -- that's all they have to do," said Joe Meadors, a Liberty survivor. "Find out what happened. If anybody did anything wrong, punish them."

It's time for a full public investigation into this matter before all principals die of old age:

The Assault on the USS Liberty Still Covered Up After 26 Years – 1993 June - WRMEA

"The Navy blocked all testimony about Israeli actions.
Instead of determining whether the attack was deliberate, the Navy blocked all testimony about Israeli actions.

"No survivor was permitted to describe the close in machine-gun fire that continued for 40 minutes after Israel claims all firing stopped.

"No survivor was allowed to talk about the life rafts the Israeli torpedo men machine-gunned in the water.

"No survivor was permitted to challenge defects and fabrications in Israel's story. Even my eyewitness testimony as officer-of-the deck was withheld from the official record.

"No evidence of Israeli culpability was 'found' because no such testimony was allowed. To survivors, this was not an investigation. It was a cover-up."

 

[MacTheKnife]

"I think this is probably the most important link in the evidence that ought to bring closure to this matter," Cristol said.

Surviving members of the Liberty crew argue that -- far from putting the matter to rest -- the tapes only underline the continuing need for a full, public U.S. investigation.

"A simple investigation -- that's all they have to do," said Joe Meadors, a Liberty survivor. "Find out what happened. If anybody did anything wrong, punish them."

It's time for a full public investigation into this matter before all principals die of old age:

The Assault on the USS Liberty Still Covered Up After 26 Years – 1993 June - WRMEA

"The Navy blocked all testimony about Israeli actions.
Instead of determining whether the attack was deliberate, the Navy blocked all testimony about Israeli actions.

"No survivor was permitted to describe the close in machine-gun fire that continued for 40 minutes after Israel claims all firing stopped.

"No survivor was allowed to talk about the life rafts the Israeli torpedo men machine-gunned in the water.

"No survivor was permitted to challenge defects and fabrications in Israel's story. Even my eyewitness testimony as officer-of-the deck was withheld from the official record.

"No evidence of Israeli culpability was 'found' because no such testimony was allowed. To survivors, this was not an investigation. It was a cover-up."

Fallacious allegations. The previous links prove it.

 

[georgephillip]

"I think this is probably the most important link in the evidence that ought to bring closure to this matter," Cristol said.

Surviving members of the Liberty crew argue that -- far from putting the matter to rest -- the tapes only underline the continuing need for a full, public U.S. investigation.

"A simple investigation -- that's all they have to do," said Joe Meadors, a Liberty survivor. "Find out what happened. If anybody did anything wrong, punish them."

It's time for a full public investigation into this matter before all principals die of old age:

The Assault on the USS Liberty Still Covered Up After 26 Years – 1993 June - WRMEA

"The Navy blocked all testimony about Israeli actions.
Instead of determining whether the attack was deliberate, the Navy blocked all testimony about Israeli actions.

"No survivor was permitted to describe the close in machine-gun fire that continued for 40 minutes after Israel claims all firing stopped.

"No survivor was allowed to talk about the life rafts the Israeli torpedo men machine-gunned in the water.

"No survivor was permitted to challenge defects and fabrications in Israel's story. Even my eyewitness testimony as officer-of-the deck was withheld from the official record.

"No evidence of Israeli culpability was 'found' because no such testimony was allowed. To survivors, this was not an investigation. It was a cover-up."

Fallacious allegations. The previous links prove it.

Your previous links are part of the whitewash.
Mine are based on eyewitness accounts of Israel's deliberate attack on the USS Liberty

USS Liberty incident - Wikipedia

"In 2002, Captain Ward Boston, JAGC, U.S. Navy, senior counsel for the Court of Inquiry, said that the Court of Inquiry's findings were intended to cover up what was a deliberate attack by Israel on a ship that the Israelis knew to be American.

"In 2004, in response to the publication of A. Jay Cristol's book The Liberty Incident, which Boston said was an "insidious attempt to whitewash the facts", Boston prepared and signed an affidavit in which he said that Admiral Kidd had told him that the government ordered Kidd to falsely report that the attack was a mistake, and that Boston and Kidd both believed the attack was deliberate.[69] On the issue Boston wrote, in part:

"'The evidence was clear. Both Admiral Kidd and I believed with certainty that this attack, which killed 34 American sailors and injured 172 others, was a deliberate effort to sink an American ship and murder its entire crew. Each evening, after hearing testimony all day, we often spoke our private thoughts concerning what we had seen and heard. I recall Admiral Kidd repeatedly referring to the Israeli forces responsible for the attack as 'murderous bastards'".

.

 

[MacTheKnife]

The following is for those who for whatever reason will not click on links:


Ward Boston, Jr.served his country as a naval aviator during World War II. He completed law school and then, after a stint with the FBI, he returned to the Navy as a legal specialist in the days prior to creation of the Judge Advocate Generals Corp. By 1967, he had been promoted to the rank of Captain and established a fine reputation as a legal officer. When the Liberty incident occurred, he was selected by then Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, Jr. as counsel to the U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry, convened by order of Admiral John McCain (the father of Senator John McCain) Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe.

When Boston reentered the Navy, he took an oath to faithfully perform his duties as a United States Naval Officer and upon the opening of the Court of Inquiry, on the record at page 106, he took another oath to faithfully perform his duties as counsel to the Court. Also sworn to faithfully perform their duties on the Court were Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, Jr. As President, Captain Bernard J. Lauff, a highly respected veteran of Wake Island, and Captain Bert M. Atkinson, Jr., a Naval Academy Graduate, as members, Lieutenant Commander Allen Feingersch, as associate counsel and YNC Joeray Spencer, as court reporter.

The Court convened at forty-six minutes before midnight on June 10, 1967, in London, moved to the USS Liberty to take sworn testimony of the crew, and then back to London where it closed for deliberations at 16:45 London time on June 16 and filed its report on or about June 18, 1967 with Admiral McCain, who endorsed it."The foregoing comments by the convening authority lead to an overall conclusion that the attack was in fact a mistake." It was sent immediately to Washington to the Chief of Naval Operation Admiral David McDonald, being carried personally by Admiral Kidd in a brief case chained to this wrist.

The Boston article goes on to recite some hearsay,"I know from personal conversations with the late Adm. Isaac C. Kidd - President of the Court of Inquiry - that President Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered him to conclude that the attack was a case of mistaken identity." The article fails to explain how or when President Johnson or Secretary McNamara transmitted the orders.

Prior to the publication of the June 8, 2007 article, Ward Boston signed an affidavit which was released on October 22, 2003, making similar allegations and later supplemented the affidavit by declaration making additional allegations. So, Boston, who signed the Court of Inquiry findings under an oath in 1967, now says under oath in 2003 that he participated in a lie in 1967. If he is telling the truth now, he confirms lying in 1967, or if he was truthful in 1967, then obviously he is lying now. So how does one decide when Ward Boston was lying? Then or now?

Perhaps an analysis of the June 8, 2007 San Diego Times Unions article, Boston’s affidavit, and the supplemental declaration will help determine when, not if, but when, Ward Boston lied.

First, a look at the article raises a question of whether it was written by Ward Boston or written by someone else for him. The first paragraph talks of the"bombing" of the ship. Boston was aware and the record is clear, the ship was not bombed. It was attacked with 30MM cannons by the aircraft and then by 20MM cannon, 50 caliber machine guns and torpedoes by the torpedo boats. The second paragraph says 34 American sailors died. In fact, 33 sailors and one NSA civilian died. It says 172 were wounded. The official records show 171 were wounded. Next. the article says the cover-up has haunted us for 40 years. If the Johnson administration had engaged in a" cover-up," why did the next seven administrations, five Republican and two Democrat, continue the" cover-up"?

The next paragraph is a repetition of the demand of various conspiracy theorists requesting a congressional hearing and suggesting the survivors be allowed to testify. One hundred and fifty four pages of sworn testimony of the Liberty’s Captain, William McGonagle, the ship’s officers and key crew members was taken on June 13 and June 14, 1967 and is available for review by any member of the public. Not one shred of additional evidence has been produced or disclosed by the conspiracy theory supporters since 1967. What is being requested is a platform to make allegations and charges before TV cameras without any prior showing that there is new or credible evidence to support he allegations. In our system of justice, first there must be the presentation of some credible evidence of probable cause to support the charges. To date, neither Boston nor anyone else has produced such evidence.

The article confirms that"we," Boston and Admiral Kidd, boarded the Liberty and interviewed the survivors and states that"the evidence was clear" but does not state what that evidence was. What evidence was clear? This is the point where Boston makes a leap of faith. He says"we both believed with certainty that the attack was deliberate."

Boston, the lawyer, if he wrote those words, knows better. He could say"I believed" but when he attributes that belief to Admiral Kidd, he violated the hearsay rule and the Dead Man Statute which forbids quotation of a dead man because the dead man can neither confirm nor deny the statement. The article says"I heard testimony that made it clear the Israelis intended there be no survivor." What testimony did Boston hear? A careful reading of the 154 pages of sworn testimony does not even suggest it. Who testified about what? Since no Israelis participated in the Court of Inquiry, who was able to testify about he intent of the Israelis and where is that testimony?

And an even better question, if the Israelis intended to sink the Liberty, then why didn't the Israeli Armed Forces, which had destroyed the entire Egyptian Air Force in minutes, had destroyed thousands of Egyptian tanks and artillery in a few days, had captured the Sinai, the Suez Canal, the Old City of Jerusalem, the West Bank and a day later destroyed the Syrian army and its armor and captured the Golan Heights, all in six days, why didn’t they sink the ship, if that is what they intended?

The myth Boston repeats about Israel committing a war crime by machine gunning three life rafts was initiated by Lloyd Painter about ten years after the event. The sworn testimony of Lloyd Painter taken June 13, 1967 does not mention machine gunning the three life rafts, nor does the testimony of the Captain or any of the crew, who were there on the bridge and on the deck with Lloyd Painter at the time on June 8, 1967.

Boston states"I am outraged at the efforts of Israel’s apologists to claim this attack was a case of ‘mistaken identity.’" This outrage, coming in 2003 - 36 to 40 years after Boston signed the Court of Inquiry findings under oath raises a number of questions.

QUESTIONS:

Why was Boston not outraged on June 18, 1967 by the report of the Court of Inquiry signed by, according to his definition apparent apologists for Israel, Admiral Kidd, Captain Atkinson, Captain Lauff and Captain Boston?

Why was Boston not outraged on June 18, 1967 when apologist for Israel, Admiral John C. McCain, in Boston’s presence, endorsed the Court of Inquiry with the comment:"15. The foregoing comments by the convening authority lead to an overall conclusion that the attack was in fact a mistake"?

Why was Boston not outraged in July 1967 when apologist for Israel, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee stated,"In the case of the attack on the Liberty, it was the conclusion of the investigatory body headed by an Admiral of the Navy [Isaac C. Kidd, Jr.] in whom we have great confidence that the attack was not intentional. I read the record of investigation and I support that conclusion, and I think . . . it was not a conscious decision on the part of either the government of Israel . . . [t]o attack a U.S. vessel." (Released by U.S. Government printing office: 1967.)

Why was Boston not outraged on September 15, 1967, when distinguished journalist and, by Boston’s definition"apologist for Israel," James L. Kilpatrick wrote in an article published in the National Review, on page 958,". . . that the Israeli government was heavily dependent upon the goodwill of the united States; it would have been utterly irrational for the Israeli Navy knowingly to have launched an attack on the U.S. ship; and that the only reasonable explanation is that the incident was mistake arising from the natural tensions and fallible judgments of a hot war."

Why was Boston not outraged on February 27, 1978 when"apologist for Israel," the CIA Director Admiral Stansfield Turner, stated in a letter to Senator Abourezk,"It remains our best judgment that the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty was not made in malice toward the United States and was a mistake."

Why was Boston not outraged on September 19, 1978 when the Director of Central Intelligence, Admiral Stansfield Turner, stated publicly on ABC television in a discussion about the Liberty incident:". . .we released an evaluated over-all document which said very clearly that it was our considered opinion that the Israeli Government had no such knowledge at that time."

Why was Boston not outraged on July 11, 1983 when"apologist for Israel," the National Security Agency released in its partially declassified 1981 report"Liberty was mistaken for an Egyptian ship as a result of miscalculations and egregious errors"?

Why was Boston not outraged on September 5, 1991 when"apologist for Israel," President George H.W. Bush’s (41) White House, wrote". . . A thorough investigation into the USS Liberty incident was conducted and the conclusion was that it was a tragic case of mistaken identity."

Why was Boston not outraged on May 10, 1995 when"apologist for Israel," President William Clinton’s White House, wrote,"There is no information available that demonstrates that the attack was deliberate."

Why was Boston not outraged on August 30, 1995 when Clark Clifford’s July 18, 1967 report was declassified revealing the conclusion,"The weight of the evidence is that the Israeli attacking forces originally believed their target was Egyptian . . .2. The information thus far available does not reflect that the Israeli high command made a premeditated attack on a ship known to be American."

Why was Boston not outraged on October 2, 2002, when President George W. Bush’s White House, wrote"The results of the investigations . . . were considered satisfactory . . .there is no precedent to reinvestigate this case."

Why was Boston not outraged on July 2, 2003 when the"apologist for Israel" National Security Agency further declassified a portion of page 64 of its 1981 Report, which stated,"While these reports revealed some confusion concerning the nationality of the ship, they tended to rule out any thesis that the Israeli Navy and Air Force deliberately attacked a ship they knew to be American."

Boston says"Let former intelligence officers testify that they received real-time Hebrew translations of Israeli commanders instructing their pilots to sink the American ship. This myth is perhaps the easiest of all to debunk. Although the conspiracy theorists have claimed for years that there exist NSA audio intercepts between Israeli pilots and their controllers which prove the attack was deliberate, no such tapes have ever been produced. What has been produced on July 2, 2004, as a result of this author’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, are audio tapes and translations of communications between Israeli pilots and their controllers which clearly establish that the Israelis believed the target ship was hostile, most likely Egyptian, until 3:12 PM, approximately 44 minutes after the attack was concluded. The National Security Agency confirms that there are no other tapes.

Dr. Marvin Nowicki, the U.S. Navy/NSA person who recorded and initially translated the intercepts has stated clearly that they show the attack to be a mistake. See letter of the Dr. Nowicki to Editor of the Wall Street Journal published May 16, 2001 at page A23.

Richard Hickman, the NSA Hebrew linguist at headquarters, who made the final translations of the intercepts and briefed NSA Director Marshal Carter on the tapes, also confirmed that the tapes make it clear the attack was a mistake.



The reader may hear the tape recordings in Hebrew and read the official transcripts of English translation on the National Security Agency’s NSA website, www.nsa.gov.

So who told Ward Boston about the former intelligence officers receiving"real-time Hebrew translations"? Could it have been Ron Gotcher who helped Boston with his initial affidavit and declaration and very likely wrote or assisted in the preparation of the June 8, 2007 article, bylined Ward Boston, Jr., published in the San Diego Union Tribune. Ron Gotcher has long made claims of the existence of the alleged incriminating tapes on his website. Gotcher also claimed to have worked for the National Security Agency; however, reference the"Documents" page of www.libertyincident.com and go to"Gotcher Debunked." There the viewer will see the actual letter from the National Security Agency, in response to a FOIA request, confirming that Gotcher never worked for NSA.

What or who is behind these continuing false charges that have induced Boston, a naval officer with a distinguished career, to dishonor himself by admitting to have violated his oath, either in 1967 or more recently. Ron Gotcher is only a bit player in a much broader propaganda effort.

The propaganda emanates from a small but well-funded and very vocal group of people and organizations principally supported by Saudi Arabian money. The groups include the American Educational Trust (AET) operated in Washington, DC by former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Andrew I. Kilgore, and a circle of others whose agenda is to attack the present excellent symbiotic relationship between the United States and Israel. It includes: the Americans for Mideast Understanding (AMEU) which was reportedly founded with money from Arabian American Oil Company, ARAMCO, and has former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, James Akins, who was dismissed by the U.S. State Department in 1975"for being too compliant to Saudi demands" and former congressman Paul Findley serving on its National Council; and the Liberty Alliance operated by Tito De Nagy Howard, who is described as"a man at war with the Israelis" by Anthony Pearson. Howard met Pearson in Dubai and upon learning that Pearson was considered by the PLO to be pro-Palestinian, gave him"an idea to resurrect the Liberty incident as a whole new story."

It all started with former Illinois congressman Paul Findley (who was defeated for re-election after he announced his support for the terrorist organization, the PLO) and former California congressman Paul"Pete" McCloskey, who speaks regularly at meetings of Holocaust denial organizations in California and Washington and was defeated for re-election. Findley and McCloskey were the moving force in founding the Liberty Veterans Association. Findley served as its advisor and McCloskey incorporated the association and served as its attorney. They continue to manipulate and distress Liberty survivors and their families by prodding this old wound and preventing its healing – all for their own political agenda. And what is that agenda? Findley and McCloskey are also the founders of the Council for the National Interest (CNI), whose publicly announced purpose is to be the anti-Israel lobby.

Distorted explanations of events obfuscate the picture and destroy the ability to learn real lessons for the future. Multiple official investigation reports and endorsements have all concluded the incident was the result of a tragic mistake or that there is no evidence that the attack was deliberate. Nevertheless, dozens of conspiracy stories, in addition to Ward Boston’s sad confession that he dishonored his oath taken in 1967 and remained silent about it for 36 years, have become part of the literature through the actions of persons and organizations with their own political agenda. The conspiracy stories continue to multiply and become more extreme. They detract from the possibility to learn from the tragedy. They also inflict pain and suffering upon the victims and their families creating an additional tragedy by provoking, goading and torturing the victims with inaccurate, false and even absurd theories about that sad day, not with the goal of bringing closure and peace but for political objectives.



As for the victims, they should be left to believe whatever brings them peace. As for historians seeking the truth, it is respectfully suggested that a review of all evidence, now declassified and available, will confirm the official conclusion that the Liberty incident was a tragic case of mistaken identity as a result of numerous mistakes by both the United States and Israel, and will explain the conflicting recollection of Ward Boston, who boasts he is now in his eighties. Perhaps the quotation from a recent speech by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer explains. Breyer said"I am now at the age where I remember quite clearly and with great detail, many things that never actually happened."

After forty years, it is time to close the book. Let those who lost their lives rest in peace and be honored in treasured memory. Let the survivors be honored and respected and let them and their families have peace and closure.
Why You Shouldn't Pay Attention to the Claims that Israel Attacked the USS Liberty Deliberately | History News Network

 

[georgephillip]

The following is for those who for whatever reason will not click on links:

Your link:

"Why You Shouldn't Pay Attention to the Claims that Israel Attacked the USS Liberty Deliberately..."

"by A. Jay Cristol

"Judge Cristol is the author of the Liberty Incident: The 1967 Israeli Attack on the U. S. Navy Spy Ship.

A. Jay Cristol was not an eyewitness to Israel's attempt to sink Liberty. His report is ridiculed as a whitewash by those who were and those with real-time accounts of what truly occurred on 8 June 1967:

http://www.gtr5.com/Witnesses/forslund.pdf

"Nothing I can say will change anyone's mind but I have to state, for my own peace of mind, what I witnessed as an all source intelligence analyst for the U.S. Air Force during the 6 day war.

"There were other intercepts, and I and many others like me, read transcripts of the air-to-air and air-to-ground communications of the fighters who attacked the USS Liberty.

"We read these in real time during the day the attack occurred.

"These intercepts were preceded by many others we read that week that started with the opening attack by Israel in the war and included intercepts of messages between the USA and Israel in which our government stated their knowledge of the Israeli's pre-emptive attack that began the war and warned Israel to cease.

"On the day of the attack on the Liberty, I read yellow teletype sheets that spewed from the machines in front of me all day.

"We obtained our input from a variety of sources including the NSA. transcripts that day as it went on and on.

"The transcripts made specific reference to the efforts to direct the jets to the target which was identified as American numerous times by the ground controller.

"Upon arrival, the aircraft specifically identified the target and mentioned the American flag she was flying.

"There were frequent operational transmissions from the pilots to the ground base describing the strafing runs.

"The ground control began asking about the status of the target and whether it was sinking.

"They stressed that the target must be sunk and leave no trace.

"The pilots stated they had made several runs and the target was still floating.

"The ground control station re-iterated that it was urgent that the target be sunk, leaving no trace.

"There was a detectable level of frustration evident in the transmissions over the fact that the aircraft were unable to accomplish the mission quickly and totally

"The aircraft eventually broke off and we received no further transcripts of the event.

"I have since learned in later descriptions of the attack that torpedo boats attacked the Liberty also.

"I saw neither intercepts nor analyses that addressed that attack.

"An hour or two later I was discussing the event with a team member and he stated they had received, during the time frame of the attack, an intercept of a US State Department message to Israel stating that the United States had full evidence of what had occurred in the attack on the Liberty and strongly warning Israel to cease activities immediately."

Any thoughts on why the IDF wanted Liberty sunk without a trace? Perhaps it helps explain the motive for Israel's cowardly attack?

 

[MacTheKnife]

The following is for those who for whatever reason will not click on links:

Your link:

"Why You Shouldn't Pay Attention to the Claims that Israel Attacked the USS Liberty Deliberately..."

"by A. Jay Cristol

"Judge Cristol is the author of the Liberty Incident: The 1967 Israeli Attack on the U. S. Navy Spy Ship.

A. Jay Cristol was not an eyewitness to Israel's attempt to sink Liberty. His report is ridiculed as a whitewash by those who were and those with real-time accounts of what truly occurred on 8 June 1967:

http://www.gtr5.com/Witnesses/forslund.pdf

"Nothing I can say will change anyone's mind but I have to state, for my own peace of mind, what I witnessed as an all source intelligence analyst for the U.S. Air Force during the 6 day war.

"There were other intercepts, and I and many others like me, read transcripts of the air-to-air and air-to-ground communications of the fighters who attacked the USS Liberty.

"We read these in real time during the day the attack occurred.

"These intercepts were preceded by many others we read that week that started with the opening attack by Israel in the war and included intercepts of messages between the USA and Israel in which our government stated their knowledge of the Israeli's pre-emptive attack that began the war and warned Israel to cease.

"On the day of the attack on the Liberty, I read yellow teletype sheets that spewed from the machines in front of me all day.

"We obtained our input from a variety of sources including the NSA. transcripts that day as it went on and on.

"The transcripts made specific reference to the efforts to direct the jets to the target which was identified as American numerous times by the ground controller.

"Upon arrival, the aircraft specifically identified the target and mentioned the American flag she was flying.

"There were frequent operational transmissions from the pilots to the ground base describing the strafing runs.

"The ground control began asking about the status of the target and whether it was sinking.

"They stressed that the target must be sunk and leave no trace.

"The pilots stated they had made several runs and the target was still floating.

"The ground control station re-iterated that it was urgent that the target be sunk, leaving no trace.

"There was a detectable level of frustration evident in the transmissions over the fact that the aircraft were unable to accomplish the mission quickly and totally

"The aircraft eventually broke off and we received no further transcripts of the event.

"I have since learned in later descriptions of the attack that torpedo boats attacked the Liberty also.

"I saw neither intercepts nor analyses that addressed that attack.

"An hour or two later I was discussing the event with a team member and he stated they had received, during the time frame of the attack, an intercept of a US State Department message to Israel stating that the United States had full evidence of what had occurred in the attack on the Liberty and strongly warning Israel to cease activities immediately."

Any thoughts on why the IDF wanted Liberty sunk without a trace? Perhaps it helps explain the motive for Israel's cowardly attack?

An obvious liar....where are all the others he claimed read these supposed transcripts?

Here are the actual NSA transcripts of the liberty ship incident.........

NSA Release of Transcripts of Israeli Attack on USS Liberty
Audio Recordings & Transcripts

CNN.com - USS Liberty attack tapes released - Jul. 10, 2003


U.S.S. Liberty

Investigations of the Liberty Tragedy

The Lie that Won’t Die: the USS Liberty Attack Slander, Continued



What Forslund claims makes no sense.....'that the Israelis kept referring to the ship as American.' Do you think even if they had wanted to sink the ship they would have kept referring to it as American....you think they were so stupid they did not realize that the air waves are monitored? If they had wanted to sink the ship they would have bombed it...not merely strafe it with machine gun fire.

You should check out Steve Forslund's history.

Court & Arrest Records
PublicPrivate
Court, Arrest or Criminal Records
Steven DOES have Arrest or Criminal Records. Check Full Background Report to see possible arrest or conviction records we have found on Steven. This may include any DUIs, traffic tickets and outstanding warrants. When applicable, we may show where the crime occurred and provide details about the offense.

View Steven's Court, Arrest or Criminal Records
Lawsuits, Liens or Bankruptcies
Steven DOES have Lawsuits, Liens or Bankruptcies. Check Full Background Report to see local, state and federal court documents, sensitive legal information and any litigation that Steven may have been involved in. We'll reveal arrest details like case numbers, offense descriptions, and booking dates, where available.

View Steven's Lawsuits, Liens or Bankruptcies Records

 

[georgephillip]

You should check out Steve Forslund's history.

Court & Arrest Records
PublicPrivate
Court, Arrest or Criminal Records
Steven DOES have Arrest or Criminal Records. Check Full Background Report to see possible arrest or conviction records we have found on Steven. This may include any DUIs, traffic tickets and outstanding warrants. When applicable, we may show where the crime occurred and provide details about the offense.

The particular Steven Forslund you link to is 51 years old.

Liberty was attacked 8 June 1967.

Your Hasbara is weak.

 

[georgephillip]

What Forslund claims makes no sense.....'that the Israelis kept referring to the ship as American.' Do you think even if they had wanted to sink the ship they would have kept referring to it as American....you think they were so stupid they did not realize that the air waves are monitored? If they had wanted to sink the ship they would have bombed it...not merely strafe it with machine gun fire

Again, multiple eyewitness accounts of those who survived Israel's attack ALL AGREE the assault was premeditated and intended to sink Liberty with no survivors.

It seems reasonable to assume such an act, had it been successful, would have led the US to side with Israel in its '67 war.

FWIW, I turned 20 during that summer, and I can assure you that plan would have succeeded spectacularly if Liberty had gone down with all hands.

USS Liberty Memorial: Summary of Events

"At 1400 hours, while approximately 17 miles off the Gaza coast, USS Liberty's crew observed three surface radar contacts closing with their position at high speed. A few moments later, the bridge radar crew observed high speed aircraft passing over the surface returns on the same heading.[16]

"Within a few short moments, and without any warning, Israeli fighter aircraft launched a rocket attack on USS Liberty. The aircraft made repeated firing passes, attacking USS Liberty with rockets and their internal cannons.

"After the first flight of fighter aircraft had exhausted their ordnance, subsequent flights of Israeli fighter aircraft continued to prosecute the attack with rockets, cannon fire, and napalm. [17]

During the air attack, USS Liberty's crew had difficulty contacting Sixth Fleet to request assistance due to intense communications jamming[18]

The initial targets on the ship were the command bridge, communications antennas, and the four .50 caliber machine guns, placed on the ship to repel boarders.[19]

After the Israeli fighter aircraft completed their attacks, three Israeli torpedo boats arrived and began a surface attack about 35 minutes after the start of the air attack. The torpedo boats launched a total of five torpedoes, one of which struck the side of USS Liberty, opposite the ship's research spaces. [20] Twenty-six Americans in addition to the eight who had been killed in the earlier air attacks, were killed as a result of this explosion.

Following their torpedo attack, the torpedo boats moved up and down the length of the ship (both the port and starboard sides), continuing their attack, raking the ship with cannon and machine gun fire.[21]

"In Malta, crewmen were later assigned the task of counting all of the holes in the ship that were the size of a man's hand or larger. They found a total of 861 such holes, in addition to 'thousands' of .50 caliber machine gun holes.

"Survivors report that the torpedo boat crews swept the decks of USS Liberty with continuous machine gun fire, targeting communications equipment and any crewmembers who ventured above decks.[22]

"Damage control firefighters, who had already risked their lives merely by appearing on deck, had to abandon their efforts because their fire hoses had been shredded by machine gun fire."

 

[MacTheKnife]

What Forslund claims makes no sense.....'that the Israelis kept referring to the ship as American.' Do you think even if they had wanted to sink the ship they would have kept referring to it as American....you think they were so stupid they did not realize that the air waves are monitored? If they had wanted to sink the ship they would have bombed it...not merely strafe it with machine gun fire

Again, multiple eyewitness accounts of those who survived Israel's attack ALL AGREE the assault was premeditated and intended to sink Liberty with no survivors.

It seems reasonable to assume such an act, had it been successful, would have led the US to side with Israel in its '67 war.

FWIW, I turned 20 during that summer, and I can assure you that plan would have succeeded spectacularly if Liberty had gone down with all hands.

USS Liberty Memorial: Summary of Events

"At 1400 hours, while approximately 17 miles off the Gaza coast, USS Liberty's crew observed three surface radar contacts closing with their position at high speed. A few moments later, the bridge radar crew observed high speed aircraft passing over the surface returns on the same heading.[16]

"Within a few short moments, and without any warning, Israeli fighter aircraft launched a rocket attack on USS Liberty. The aircraft made repeated firing passes, attacking USS Liberty with rockets and their internal cannons.

"After the first flight of fighter aircraft had exhausted their ordnance, subsequent flights of Israeli fighter aircraft continued to prosecute the attack with rockets, cannon fire, and napalm. [17]

During the air attack, USS Liberty's crew had difficulty contacting Sixth Fleet to request assistance due to intense communications jamming[18]

The initial targets on the ship were the command bridge, communications antennas, and the four .50 caliber machine guns, placed on the ship to repel boarders.[19]

After the Israeli fighter aircraft completed their attacks, three Israeli torpedo boats arrived and began a surface attack about 35 minutes after the start of the air attack. The torpedo boats launched a total of five torpedoes, one of which struck the side of USS Liberty, opposite the ship's research spaces. [20] Twenty-six Americans in addition to the eight who had been killed in the earlier air attacks, were killed as a result of this explosion.

Following their torpedo attack, the torpedo boats moved up and down the length of the ship (both the port and starboard sides), continuing their attack, raking the ship with cannon and machine gun fire.[21]

"In Malta, crewmen were later assigned the task of counting all of the holes in the ship that were the size of a man's hand or larger. They found a total of 861 such holes, in addition to 'thousands' of .50 caliber machine gun holes.

"Survivors report that the torpedo boat crews swept the decks of USS Liberty with continuous machine gun fire, targeting communications equipment and any crewmembers who ventured above decks.[22]

"Damage control firefighters, who had already risked their lives merely by appearing on deck, had to abandon their efforts because their fire hoses had been shredded by machine gun fire."

Such utterly ridiculous comments.................aka.................first of all--what info do you think those sailors on the Liberty would have had that led them to believe it was 'Pre-meditated attack'? all those poor guys knew was that they were being attacked and when you get wounded and see some of your buddies get killed their anger is understandable.....only natural for them to want to blame Israel. But they have no evidence whatsoever that it was a deliberate attack.

and then.....................you claim as a motive...Israel's desire to get U.S. support for their war against Egypt....they did not want America's help nor did they need it...they finished the whole shebang in 6 short days.....to try and put that forward as a motive for the attack on the Liberty is utterly and completely nonsensical and ridiculous.

Most of the blame for this incident should be placed on the 6th fleets communications....mistakenly ordering the Liberty into the middle of a very hot war zone. The U.S. Navy has admitted their communications system was at fault for this.

What really happened.................The Lie that Won’t Die: the USS Liberty Attack Slander, Continued


In my first arguments, I started to question how the pilots could miss the huge friggin’ American flag, but then decided I’d better check if I could see the thing. It took a little while to find a clear enough shot to even make out the little scrap nestled up there, less visible than the nearby signal flags. Along this line, accident advocate Dr. Marvin Nowicki makes a valid point:”In reconstruction of the attack, the Liberty crew makes much of flying the American flag, as if it would somehow protect them in harm's way. Little does the crew appreciate the difficulty of identifying a ship from an aircraft merely on the basis of a flag or even a hull number (GTR 5 displayed by the Liberty). […referring to photograph below…] This crisp overhead photo does not clearly show the identity of the American ship. So how could the attacking Israeli forces conclude this was a friendly ship?” [1]
This is the photo in question, here with the flag area actually highlighted with realistic colors. It’s still hardly more than a speck. Now I do see a clear difference between the flag and the hull number, well-illustrated by the same photo, which does in fact identify the ship with or without the flag being noticeable. No one has had any doubts if the hull was fully extended or drooping and unreadable; the “5” in particular is ten feet high, all letters of the solid block type, with offset drop-shadows to enhance clarity. This designation belongs to only one ship in the world.

Among the Liberty’s own mistakes that clearly brought it on themselves, per IDF, are “failure to signal,” changing direction, “running away,” hiding under smoke.....“Another grave error” discussed in Col. Ron’s report is that “it seems that the ship made every effort to conceal her identity” by, for example, “flying a small flag which was unidentifiable from a distance.” [2] He doesn't clarify whether the flag was smaller than it should have been or just small enough to offer as an excuse.

IDF records have admitted absolutely no reports of a flag from their the eight-plus aircraft orbits conducted over the day. Official records show the attacking planes never noticed such a flag, nor the Motor Torpedo Boats that nearly sank the Liberty. As Judge Yerushalmi’s report put it (once translated) “throughout the contact no American or any other flag appeared on the ship, and it was only a helicopter, sent after the attack in order to render assistance--if necessary--which noticed a small American Flag flying over the target.”

 

[georgephillip]

In my first arguments, I started to question how the pilots could miss the huge friggin’ American flag, but then decided I’d better check if I could see the thing. It took a little while to find a clear enough shot to even make out the little scrap nestled up there, less visible than the nearby signal flags. Along this line, accident advocate Dr. Marvin Nowicki makes a valid point:”In reconstruction of the attack, the Liberty crew makes much of flying the American flag, as if it would somehow protect them in harm's way. Little does the crew appreciate the difficulty of identifying a ship from an aircraft merely on the basis of a flag or even a hull number (GTR 5 displayed by the Liberty). […referring to photograph below…] This crisp overhead photo does not clearly show the identity of the American ship. So how could the attacking Israeli forces conclude this was a friendly ship?” [1]

The IDF knew the identity of Liberty hours before its cowardly attacked commenced, BY ITS OWN ADMISSION:

USS Liberty Memorial: Summary of Events

"At approximately 0600 hours (all times local) on the morning of June 8, 1967 an Israeli maritime reconnaissance aircraft observer reported seeing 'a US Navy cargo type ship,' just outside the coverage of the Israeli coastal radar defense net, bearing the hull markings 'GTR-5'.[11]

"This report, made to Israeli naval HQ, was also forwarded immediately to the Israeli navy intelligence directorate.[12]

"Throughout the remainder of the day prior to the attack, Israeli reconnaissance aircraft regularly flew out to USS Liberty's position and orbited the ship before returning to their bases in Israel.

"A total of no fewer than eight (8) such flights were made.[13]

"At approximately 1050 hours, the naval observer from the early morning reconnaissance flight arrived at Israeli air force HQ and sat down with the air-naval liaison officer there.

"The two officers consulted Jane's Fighting Ships and learned that the ship reported earlier in the day was USS Liberty, a United States Navy technical research ship.[14]

Three hours later, Israel launched its assault with the intention of sinking Liberty and murdering her crew.

 

[MacTheKnife]

In my first arguments, I started to question how the pilots could miss the huge friggin’ American flag, but then decided I’d better check if I could see the thing. It took a little while to find a clear enough shot to even make out the little scrap nestled up there, less visible than the nearby signal flags. Along this line, accident advocate Dr. Marvin Nowicki makes a valid point:”In reconstruction of the attack, the Liberty crew makes much of flying the American flag, as if it would somehow protect them in harm's way. Little does the crew appreciate the difficulty of identifying a ship from an aircraft merely on the basis of a flag or even a hull number (GTR 5 displayed by the Liberty). […referring to photograph below…] This crisp overhead photo does not clearly show the identity of the American ship. So how could the attacking Israeli forces conclude this was a friendly ship?” [1]

The IDF knew the identity of Liberty hours before its cowardly attacked commenced, BY ITS OWN ADMISSION:

USS Liberty Memorial: Summary of Events

"At approximately 0600 hours (all times local) on the morning of June 8, 1967 an Israeli maritime reconnaissance aircraft observer reported seeing 'a US Navy cargo type ship,' just outside the coverage of the Israeli coastal radar defense net, bearing the hull markings 'GTR-5'.[11]

"This report, made to Israeli naval HQ, was also forwarded immediately to the Israeli navy intelligence directorate.[12]

"Throughout the remainder of the day prior to the attack, Israeli reconnaissance aircraft regularly flew out to USS Liberty's position and orbited the ship before returning to their bases in Israel.

"A total of no fewer than eight (8) such flights were made.[13]

"At approximately 1050 hours, the naval observer from the early morning reconnaissance flight arrived at Israeli air force HQ and sat down with the air-naval liaison officer there.

"The two officers consulted Jane's Fighting Ships and learned that the ship reported earlier in the day was USS Liberty, a United States Navy technical research ship.[14]

Three hours later, Israel launched its assault with the intention of sinking Liberty and murdering her crew.

Your biased source: The USS Liberty Veterans Association (LVA or USS-LVA) is an organization of former crew members and survivors of the USS Liberty incident on 8 June 1967.

This group has no credibility and are putting forth statements that have no basis in reality....all they are doing is demonstrating their anger (which is understandable) but in fact their report is based on fictional files someone claims to have seen years ago which in fact do not exist....oh yeh right....they just disappeared. Pathetic.

Refuting such accusations was difficult if not impossible in the past, when the official records on the Liberty were designated top-secret and closed to the general public.

With the recent declassification of these documents in the United States and Israel, however, researchers have gained access to a wealth of primary sources - Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and U.S. military records, Israeli diplomatic correspondence, and memoranda from both the State Department and the White House. With the aid of these materials, the attack on the Liberty can now be reconstructed virtually minute-by-minute and with remarkable detail. The picture that emerges is not one of crime at all, nor even of criminal negligence, but of a string of failed communications, human errors, unfortunate coincidences and equipment failures on both the American and Israeli sides - the kind of tragic, senseless mistake that is all too common in the thick of war.

"Within an hour of learning that the Liberty had been torpedoed, the Director, NSA sent a message to all intercept sites requesting a special search of all communications that might reflect the attack or reaction. No communications of the attacking aircraft or torpedo boats were available. However, one of the airborne platforms, the EC-121, had collected voice conversations between two Israeli helicopter pilots and the control tower at Hazor Airfield (near Tel Aviv). Those communications have been declassified and are on the enclosed CDs. Each CD contains an audio recording of voice conversations between Israeli helicopter pilots and the control tower at Hazor Airfield following the attack on the Liberty. The audio recordings are in Hebrew and contain time counts in English that were added by the intercept operator. Other information with respect to the EC-121 during the time period you requested exists, but is unrelated to the Liberty attack. That information remains classified and is not being provided to you.

Also enclosed are the three transcripts of the audio recordings. The transcripts are in English. There are two additional transcripts that were issued as reports; they are summaries of the first three transcripts and omit the non-substantive chatter'.

NSA Release of Transcripts of Israeli Attack on USS Liberty

A compiled report also summarizes the activity and contains the text of the transcripts.


History & Overview of the USS Liberty Incident

Final Analysis:

The whole cottage industry of lies and fabrications about the attack on the USS Liberty are, and have long been, used as a tool to foment tension and discord between Israel and America on the part of haters and enemies of Israel, and, in the larger picture, are merely a bit part of the entire apparatus of long standing assault on, and delegitimization of, the Jewish state: The recasting of the events of the wars of 1948, 1956,1967, Lebanon in 1982 and 2006, and Gaza in 2009 into wars of unprovoked aggression; the release of the one-sided blood libel of the Goldstone Report in 2009; the recasting of the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010 into a vicious, unprovoked attack on “peaceful” club and knife wielding activists—it’s all a vast, sordid enterprise of brazen historical revisions, rewrites, distortions, and out and out lies in the service of the Big Lie: that this nation, Israel, is uniquely evil and whose antagonists are all, without exception, innocent, virtuous victims of the Jewish state’s unprovoked aggressions and unspeakable depredations. It is a slanderous lie, dishonors those both living and dead, and deserves its place in the ash-heap of history.

Sources:
The author wishes to thank Mihal Tzur, Director of the Israel Defense Forces Archive, and Judge A. Jay Cristol for their assistance in researching this article.
1. Thomas H. Moorer's foreword to James M. Ennes, Jr., Assault on the Liberty: The True Story of the Israeli Attack on an American Intelligence Ship (New York: Ivy, 1979), p. ix.
2. Cited in USS Liberty Internet site (www.halcyon.com/jim/ussliberty/liberty.htm).
3. Wisconsin Public Radio station wlfm interview of Dean Rusk by Tom Clark, February 1999, cited in USS Liberty Internet site.
4. Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library (hereafter "LBJ"), Oral History of David G. Nes, p. 31.
5. Cited in USS Liberty Internet site.
6. Donald Neff, Warriors for Jerusalem: The Six Days that Changed the Middle East (Brattleboro, Vt.: Amana Books, 1984).
7. Reverdy S. Fishel, "The Attack on the Liberty: An 'Accident'?" in International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 8, no. 3, 1995.
8. June 1992. See also Evans and Novak's "Remembering the Liberty," in The Washington Post, November 6, 1991; "The Liberty Quotes," in The Washington Post, November 11, 1991; Mark Genrich, editorial page column, The Phoenix Gazette, June 5, 1996.
9. ABC's 20/20, May 21, 1987, and NBC's The Story Behind the Story, January 27, 1992, cited in A. Jay Cristol, The Liberty Incident, unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Miami, 1997, pp. 145-148. Cristol, a federal judge in Miami, is the leading expert on the Liberty incident, having devoted years to its study.
10. Anyone in doubt about the nature of the USS Liberty Internet site can follow its links to any number of rabidly anti-Israel sites, among them Palestinian Geocities and Paul Findley's Council for the National Interest.
11. LBJ, National Security File, History of the Middle East Crisis, Box 18, Joint Chiefs of Staff: Military Actions - Straits of Tiran, May 24, 1967.
12. LBJ, Box 1-10, The USS Liberty: Department of Defense Press Release, June 8, 1967; Box 19: CINCUSNAVEUR Order, May 30, 1967; Box 18, Joint Chiefs of Staff: Military Actions - Straits of Tiran, May 25, 1967; Box 104/107, The National Military Command Center: Attack on the USS Liberty, June 9, 1967.
13. For a discussion of Israel's considerations in going to war, see Michael B. Oren, "Did Israel Want the Six Day War?" Azure 7, Spring 1999, pp. 47-86.
14. United States National Archives, Middle East Crisis Files, 1967, Record Group 59 (hereafter "USNA"), USUN, Box 6: CINSTRIKE to AIG, June 2, 1967. Ben-Gurion Archive, Diary, Entry for May 26, 1967. See also Cristol, Liberty Incident, pp. 25-26.
15. British Public Record Office, FCO17/498, Israel - Political Affairs: Tel Aviv to Foreign Office, June 5, 1967. See also Yitzhak Rabin, The Rabin Memoirs (Berkeley: University of California, 1996), pp. 100, 110; Hirsh Goodman and Ze'ev Schiff, "The Attack on the Liberty," The Atlantic Monthly, September 1984, p. 81.
16. LBJ, National Security File, History of the Middle East Crisis, Box 20: United States Policy and Diplomacy in the Middle East Crisis, May 15-June 10, 1967, pp. 87-88.
17. LBJ, National Security File, History of the Middle East Crisis, Box 19: JCS to USCINCEUR, June 8, 1967; Box 104/107, The National Military Command Center: Attack on the USS Liberty, June 9, 1967; Department of Defense: USS Liberty Incident, June 15, 1967. usna, Chairman Wheeler Files, Box 27: The Court of Inquiry Findings, June 22, 1967.
18. Israel Defense Forces Archive, 2104/92/47: "Attack on the Liberty," IDF Historical Department, Research and Instruction Branch, June 1982 (hereafter "IDF, Attack on the Liberty"). The Israeli fighter pilot originally thought that the ship had fired at him, and Israeli destroyers were ordered to find it. The orders were rescinded, however, following further debriefing of the pilot.
19. Israel State Archives (hereafter "ISA"), 4079/26 Foreign Ministry Files, The Liberty Incident; IDF Preliminary Inquiry File 1/67 Col. Y. Yerushalmi (hereafter "ISA, The Yerushalmi Report"). Report by Carl F. Salans, Department of State Legal Advisor, September 21, 1967, to the Under Secretary of State. (Document available on the USS Liberty site.)
20. ISA, The Yerushalmi Report. The Liberty was also sailing near 'Point Boaz,' the location at which Israeli aircraft entered and exited Sinai - another reason for the heavy air traffic that morning. See IDF, Attack on the Liberty, p. 39, note 14.
21. Muhammad Fawzi, The Three Years War (Cairo: Dar al-Mustaqbal al-Arabi, 1980), p. 149 [Arabic]; Cristol, Liberty Incident, p. 30.
22. ISA, The Yerushalmi Report. See also Rabin, Memoirs, pp. 108-109.
23. No relation to the author.
24. Interview with Gen. (ret.) Mordechai Hod, March 9, 1999. Ehud Yanay, No Margin for Error: The Making of the Israeli Air Force (New York: Pantheon, 1993), p. 257. Castle's denial and McGonagle's confirmationof Bareket's claim both appear on the USS Liberty site.
25. The Israeli pilot mistook the "G" on the Liberty's hull for a "C." IDF, Attack on the Liberty. ISA, The Yerushalmi Report.
26. Rabin, Memoirs, p. 108. ISA, The Yerushalmi Report.
27. LBJ, Country Files, Box 104/107, The National Military Command Center: Attack on the USS Liberty, June 9, 1967. See also Cristol, Liberty Incident, p. 55.
28. IDF, Attack on the Liberty. ISA, The Yerushalmi Report. USNA, Chairman Wheeler Files, Box 27: The Court of Inquiry Findings, June 22, 1967.
29. IDF, Attack on the Liberty. ISA, The Yerushalmi Report.
30. IDF, Attack on the Liberty. ISA, The Yerushalmi Report.
31. IDF, Attack on the Liberty. ISA, The Yerushalmi Report.
32. Rabin, Memoirs, p. 109.
33. USNA, Box 16: "Liberty Hit by Torpedo," June 8, 1967; "Inventory of Submarines," June 8, 1967; W. Rostow to the President, June 8, 1967; Box 15: DOS to CINSTRIKE, June 9, 1967. LBJ, Country Files, Box 1-10, The National Military Command Center: Memorandum for the Record of Preliminary Information - USS Liberty Struck by Torpedo, June 8, 1967; Box 104/107, The National Military Command Center: Attack on the USS Liberty, June 9, 1967; History of the Middle East Crisis, Box 19: JCS to USCINCEUR, June 8, 1967.
34. The United States had gone over to daylight savings time, while Israel had not, and the result was a six-hour time difference between Washington and Israel.
35. LBJ, Country Files, Box 104/107, Middle East Crisis: Rostow to the President, June 8, 1967; Note to the President, June 8, 1967; Message to Kosygin, June 8, 1967. See also Lyndon Baines Johnson, The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency, 1963-1969 (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971), pp. 301-303; Dean Rusk, As I Saw It (New York: Penguin, 1990), p. 388.
36. usna, Box 16: Diplomatic Activity in Connection with the USS Liberty Incident, June 14, 1967. LBJ, Country Files, Box 104/107, Middle East Crisis: Eshkol to Johnson; Memos to the President (W. Rostow), Box 17: Barbour to Department of State, June 8, 1967. ISA, 4079/26 Foreign Ministry Files, The Liberty Incident: Harman to Foreign Ministry, June 10, 1967; Eban to Johnson, June 9, 1967; Evron to Johnson, June 8, 1967.
37. Upon learning of the attack, the U.S. Ambassador in Tel Aviv, Walworth Barbour, warned the State Department that "its [the Liberty's] proximity to the scene of the conflict could feed Arab suspicions of U.S.-Israeli collusion." Similarly, Ambassador-Designate Richard H. Nolte in Egypt wrote, "We had better get our story on the torpedoing of USS Liberty out fast and it had better be good." See LBJ, National Security File, Box 20: United States Policy and Diplomacy in the Middle East Crisis, May 15-June 10, 1967, pp. 143-144; Box 104/107, Middle East Crisis: Cairo to Department, June 9, 1967.
38. ISA, 4079/26 Foreign Ministry Files, The Liberty Incident, Harman to Foreign Ministry. LBJ, Country Files, Box 104/107, Middle East Crisis: Diplomatic Activity in Connection with the USS Liberty Incident, June 14, 1967. See also Clark Clifford (with Richard Holbrooke), Counsel to the President (New York: Random House, 1991), pp. 446-447; Phil G. Goulding, Confirm or Deny: Informing the People on National Security (New York: Harper and Row, 1970), pp. 123-130; Cristol, Liberty Incident, pp. 93-94.
39. ISA, 4079/26 The Liberty Incident: Bitan to Harman, June 18, 1967.
40. ISA, 4079/26 The Liberty Incident: Bitan to Harman, June 18, 1967; Evron to Eban (Rostow quote), June 19, 1967. LBJ, National Security File, Country Files, Box 104/107, Middle East Crisis: Rusk to Harman, June 10, 1967.
41. ISA, The Yerushalmi Report. LBJ, National Security File, Country Files, Box 104/107: Middle East Crisis: Diplomatic Activity in Connection with the USS Liberty Incident, June 14, 1967. Though none of the Israeli officers involved in the incident stood trial, Capt. Rahav, who dispatched the torpedo boats and called on the air force to attack the Liberty, was forced to resign his commission. See Shlomo Erell, Facing the Sea: The Story of a Fighting Sailor and Commander (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1998). [Hebrew]
42. USNA, Chairman Wheeler Files, Box 27: The Court of Inquiry Findings, June 22, 1967. LBJ, National Security File, Special Committee, Box 1-10: Why the USS Liberty Was Where It Was. Cristol, Liberty Incident, pp. 86-105. Rusk, As I Saw It, p. 388.
43. See, for example, Anthony Pearson, Conspiracy of Silence: The Attack on the U.S.S. Liberty (London: Quartet Books, 1978).
44. Though Arab archives remain closed, the Six Day (or June) War has yielded numerous memoirs by the civilian and military leaders of Egypt and Jordan. Examples can be found in Mahmud Riad, Mahmud Riad's Memoirs (Beirut: Al-Muasasah al-'Arabiyya Lil'Dirasat al-Nashr, 1987), vol. 2 [Arabic]; Muhammad Hassanayn Heikal, 1967: The Explosion (Cairo: Markaz al-Ahram, 1990) [Arabic]; Abdel-Latif Al-Baghdadi,Memoirs (Cairo: al-Maktab al-Misri al-Hadith, 1977) [Arabic]; Abdel Muhsin Kamil Murtagi, Major-General Murtagi Attests to the Truth (Cairo: Dar al-Watan al-Arabi, 1976). [Arabic]
45. The Link, July-August 1997.
46. Neff, Warriors for Jerusalem, p. 253. Further exposition of the theory appears in Richard K. Smith, "The Violation of the Liberty," in the Institute for Naval Proceedings, June 1978.
47. Thames TV documentary, Attack on the Liberty, cited in Cristol, Liberty Incident, p. 204.
48. LBJ, National Security File, Box 104/107, Middle East Crisis: Jerusalem to the Secretary of State, June 8, 1967; Barbour to Department, June 8, 1967; Joint Embassy Memorandum, June 8, 1967.
49. Abba Eban, Personal Witness: Israel Through My Eyes (New York: Putnam, 1992), p. 423. On Israeli decisionmaking on the Golan, see Hanoch Bartov, Dado: 48 Years and 20 Days (Tel Aviv: Ma'ariv, 1978), pp. 100-102 [Hebrew]; Eitan Haber, Today War Will Break Out (Tel Aviv: Yedi'ot Aharonot, 1987), pp. 244-246 [Hebrew]; Zerah Verhaftig, Fifty Years and One (Jerusalem: Yad Shapira, 1998), pp. 190-191 [Hebrew]; Rabin, Memoirs, pp. 113-116.
50. It is ironic, perhaps, that the force of this logic was upheld not only by Israelis but also by Arab writers who, sticking to the "Big Lie," alleged that the Liberty had been directing IAF strikes in Sinai and was only inadvertently attacked. Suleiman Mathhar, Annals of the June War Issue: Transcript of the Testimony before the Revolutionary Historical Commission (Cairo: Kitab al-Huriyya, 1990), pp. 86-88 [Arabic]; Muhammad El-Farra, Years of No Decision (London: KPI, 1987), pp. 58-68; Riad, Memoirs, p. 312; Heikal, The Explosion, pp. 731-732; Fawzi, The Three Years War, pp. 135-136. The claim also featured prominently in Egyptian radio broadcasts; see BBC World Service, Daily Report, Middle East, Africa and Western Europe B 8, June 16, 1967.
51. Details of the Israeli compensation payments can be found in U.S. Department of State Bulletin, vol. lviii, no. 1512, June 17, 1968, and vol. lx, no. 1562, June 2, 1969, and U.S. Department of State Daily News Briefing, DPC 2451,
December 18, 1980.
52. Congressman John Rhodes, a member of the House Appropriations Committee which investigated the Navy's communications network in 1971, called the events surrounding the Liberty incident a "comedy of errors," and then added: "Here we are, with the most sophisticated communications system ever known to mankind, and maybe it is so sophisticated we do not know how to operate it." John J. Rhodes, Committee Hearing Report, p. 394, cited in Cristol, Liberty Incident, p. 98.
53. Friendly Fire Casualty Statistics on Southeast Asia, by Month at the American War Library Internet site.

 

[georgephillip]

Your biased source: The USS Liberty Veterans Association (LVA or USS-LVA) is an organization of former crew members and survivors of the USS Liberty incident on 8 June 1967.

This group has no credibility and are putting forth statements that have no basis in reality....all they are doing is demonstrating their anger (which is understandable) but in fact their report is based on fictional files someone claims to have seen years ago which in fact do not exist....oh yeh right....they just disappeared. Pathetic.

Their reports are based on actual eyewitness testimony to the events of 8 June 1967, for example this sworn declaration of James Patrick Kavanagh:

http://www.gtr5.com/Witnesses/kavanaugh.pdf

"Unless specifically stated otherwise, all of the events described in this Declaration occurred on June 8. 1967. 7.

"Between 1000 and 1100 hours, I observed what appeared to be a maritime reconnaissance aircraft at approximately 500 feet, move slowly from starboard to port making a half moon circle from bow to stern. It then moved away toward the shore.

"This aircraft flew directly over our ship and I observed that it was marked with a Military Star of David.

"The aircraft flew so close to us that we waved to the pilot as he looked down at us while banking the aircraft. 8.

"When the attack began, I was taking a shower just aft of the CT sleeping quarters just above the screw. While showering I heard what sounded like marbles thrown into an empty oil drum then the lights dimmed a few times.

"A few seconds later, the apparent second run by attacking aircraft, bullets penetrated the ship and a bullet hit just inches away from me tearing a hole in my hip and sending me to the floor of the shower in a pool of blood.

"After making it to my emergency station, while I was engaged in destroying classified material, I observed the frustration of several of my shipmates who were trying to communicate an emergency ZULU message to the Sixth Fleet, or anyone else within earshot.

"They all complained about excessive noise (jamming) on all the frequencies they tried.

"They were also frustrated by the missing antennas that had been shot up during the attack. 10.

"While at my emergency station in the research spaces, the torpedo hit and shrapnel tore into my legs and feet. I observed seeing daylight a few seconds after the hit from inside the ship three decks below."

Why would you believe the credibility of those who survived Israel's deliberate assault on a US Navy ship is worth less than those pathetic punks who perpetrated said assault?

 

[georgephillip]

"Within an hour of learning that the Liberty had been torpedoed, the Director, NSA sent a message to all intercept sites requesting a special search of all communications that might reflect the attack or reaction. No communications of the attacking aircraft or torpedo boats were available. However, one of the airborne platforms, the EC-121, had collected voice conversations between two Israeli helicopter pilots and the control tower at Hazor Airfield (near Tel Aviv). Those communications have been declassified and are on the enclosed CDs

In fact there are multiple recordings of communications between attacking aircraft or torpedo boats:

http://www.gtr5.com/Witnesses/gotcher.pdf

"DECLARATION OF JAMES RONALD GOTCHER I, JAMES RONALD GOTCHER, DO DECLARE UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY THAT THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS TRUE AND COMPLETE, AND BASED ENTIRELY UPON MY PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE GAINED THROUGH DIRECT OBSERVATON, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY STATED OTHERWISE:

1. My true, full, and correct name is James Ronald Gotcher, III.

"2. I am a resident of the State of California.

"3. On June 8. 1967, I was a Sergeant in the United States Air Force, assigned to the 6924th Security Squadron, Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam.

"4. During the early evening (local time) of June 8, 1967 we received a CRITIC message, informing us that USS Liberty was under attack by Israeli aircraft. Shortly thereafter, we began receiving rough translations of the Israeli air to air and air to ground communications.

"5. The next day, we received the final translations of the intercepts. There will virtually no difference between the two versions.While I have a clear recollection of reading transcripts of conversations between pilots and controllers, I do not recall ever reading anything similar to the transcripts recently released by the National Security Agency concerning Israeli helicopter pilots.

"7. It was clear from the explicit statements made by both the aircraft crews and the controllers that the aircraft were flying a planned mission to find and sink USS Liberty. 8.

"My understanding of what I read led me to conclude that the Israeli pilots were making every effort possible to sink USS Liberty and were very frustrated by their inability to do so. 9.

"Approximately ten days to two weeks later, we received an internal NSA report, summarizing the Agency’s findings.

"The report stated, in no uncertain terms, that the attack was planned in advance and deliberately executed. The mission was to sink USS Liberty."

 

[MacTheKnife]

Your biased source: The USS Liberty Veterans Association (LVA or USS-LVA) is an organization of former crew members and survivors of the USS Liberty incident on 8 June 1967.

This group has no credibility and are putting forth statements that have no basis in reality....all they are doing is demonstrating their anger (which is understandable) but in fact their report is based on fictional files someone claims to have seen years ago which in fact do not exist....oh yeh right....they just disappeared. Pathetic.

Their reports are based on actual eyewitness testimony to the events of 8 June 1967, for example this sworn declaration of James Patrick Kavanagh:

http://www.gtr5.com/Witnesses/kavanaugh.pdf

"Unless specifically stated otherwise, all of the events described in this Declaration occurred on June 8. 1967. 7.

"Between 1000 and 1100 hours, I observed what appeared to be a maritime reconnaissance aircraft at approximately 500 feet, move slowly from starboard to port making a half moon circle from bow to stern. It then moved away toward the shore.

"This aircraft flew directly over our ship and I observed that it was marked with a Military Star of David.

"The aircraft flew so close to us that we waved to the pilot as he looked down at us while banking the aircraft. 8.

"When the attack began, I was taking a shower just aft of the CT sleeping quarters just above the screw. While showering I heard what sounded like marbles thrown into an empty oil drum then the lights dimmed a few times.

"A few seconds later, the apparent second run by attacking aircraft, bullets penetrated the ship and a bullet hit just inches away from me tearing a hole in my hip and sending me to the floor of the shower in a pool of blood.

"After making it to my emergency station, while I was engaged in destroying classified material, I observed the frustration of several of my shipmates who were trying to communicate an emergency ZULU message to the Sixth Fleet, or anyone else within earshot.

"They all complained about excessive noise (jamming) on all the frequencies they tried.

"They were also frustrated by the missing antennas that had been shot up during the attack. 10.

"While at my emergency station in the research spaces, the torpedo hit and shrapnel tore into my legs and feet. I observed seeing daylight a few seconds after the hit from inside the ship three decks below."

Why would you believe the credibility of those who survived Israel's deliberate assault on a US Navy ship is worth less than those pathetic punks who perpetrated said assault?

No one doubts that the Liberty was attacked and that it was attacked by Israel....that is the only thing this sailor knows and no one disputes that. Being attacked like that is a horrendous experience and no one disputes that. His anger is quite understandable.

However, he has no knowledge or evidence that it was a pre-meditated attack. He has no idea whether the pilots of those Israeli aircraft were able to see the American Flag....all such claims by him that the Israelis knew it was an American ship is pure conjecture on his part based on his anger over his and his crewmates suffering.....that is to be expected and he should not blamed for that.

 

[MacTheKnife]

"Within an hour of learning that the Liberty had been torpedoed, the Director, NSA sent a message to all intercept sites requesting a special search of all communications that might reflect the attack or reaction. No communications of the attacking aircraft or torpedo boats were available. However, one of the airborne platforms, the EC-121, had collected voice conversations between two Israeli helicopter pilots and the control tower at Hazor Airfield (near Tel Aviv). Those communications have been declassified and are on the enclosed CDs

In fact there are multiple recordings of communications between attacking aircraft or torpedo boats:

http://www.gtr5.com/Witnesses/gotcher.pdf

"DECLARATION OF JAMES RONALD GOTCHER I, JAMES RONALD GOTCHER, DO DECLARE UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY THAT THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS TRUE AND COMPLETE, AND BASED ENTIRELY UPON MY PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE GAINED THROUGH DIRECT OBSERVATON, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY STATED OTHERWISE:

1. My true, full, and correct name is James Ronald Gotcher, III.

"2. I am a resident of the State of California.

"3. On June 8. 1967, I was a Sergeant in the United States Air Force, assigned to the 6924th Security Squadron, Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam.

"4. During the early evening (local time) of June 8, 1967 we received a CRITIC message, informing us that USS Liberty was under attack by Israeli aircraft. Shortly thereafter, we began receiving rough translations of the Israeli air to air and air to ground communications.

"5. The next day, we received the final translations of the intercepts. There will virtually no difference between the two versions.While I have a clear recollection of reading transcripts of conversations between pilots and controllers, I do not recall ever reading anything similar to the transcripts recently released by the National Security Agency concerning Israeli helicopter pilots.

"7. It was clear from the explicit statements made by both the aircraft crews and the controllers that the aircraft were flying a planned mission to find and sink USS Liberty. 8.

"My understanding of what I read led me to conclude that the Israeli pilots were making every effort possible to sink USS Liberty and were very frustrated by their inability to do so. 9.

"Approximately ten days to two weeks later, we received an internal NSA report, summarizing the Agency’s findings.

"The report stated, in no uncertain terms, that the attack was planned in advance and deliberately executed. The mission was to sink USS Liberty."

The above is what is known in the legal world as heresay evidence....this fellow was in Vietnam but he claimed to be getting reports regarding the attack on the Liberty in the Mediterranean ?

The sixth fleet has even admitted their problems with communication...and in fact have said the very order that sent the Liberty into the midst of a very hot combat area was a communication mistake...when they could not even communicate clearly with their ships in the Meditteranean you want us to believe they communicated accurately with some airman in Vietnam??? Get real boyo.

There is none...as in nada.....as in no evidence that any such reports ever existed.

Now, I do not know this fellow, you do not know this fellow and we have no idea if he is a credible guy.

Nor do we know anything about his memory...or mental state or political prejudices or his views on Jews?

We do know he is very old now...and old people usually have huge memory problems. In summary...very flimsy stuff at best.

Again.........there is no credible reason or motive for Israel to have attacked an American Ship....Israel has always been dependent on American support for their very existence....do you really think they would have been so stupid to endanger that support by attacking the Liberty?

Friendly fire occurs in every war. Mistakes happen...very tragic but they happen. I remember one of my uncles talking about it ....whilst in Italy during
WWII and his company was attacked by American aircraft and how pissed they were even to the point of one of them firing back at the American planes with a 50. caliber machine gun mounted on a jeep.

The attack on the Liberty was very tragic and sadly some of those subjected to it have played into the hands of all the Jew haters....in Washington and at the top levels of our military.

That is what has allowed this travesty to continue...and now the muslims...al jazeera etc. have joined in to try and created a split between Israel and America...and you have bought it--because you desire to see our alliance with Israel broken up or at least harmed.